Flash: Limelight
by LoganAustinGrasso
Summary: AU Part of the Limelight universe, to avoid spoilers discover the plot yourself! New chapters on Wednesdays!
1. Not fast enough

I wasn't an athletic kid…at all. In fact, I got worn out of breath easily. I was better at scientific things and math, ext. Everyday at football practice; I sat in the bleachers while doing my homework. I didn't go to the practice for the football…but for a girl. Isn't it always for a girl? Iris West, she was a cheerleader, I would glance up every now and then to watch her. One day…the football was thrown out of bounds…and into the bleachers. I saw it coming and caught it.

"Nice catch!"

I threw the football back to the coach.

"Thanks."

"You've got a good arm, wanna join the team?"

"No thanks…too dangerous."

Or so my mother said. She may have been too "over protective" but she loved me.

"Alright then, in that case, practice dismissed."

I closed my notebooks and packed them away in my backpack before heading down the bleachers. I watch Iris head towards the road…good thing I did. A car races down the road, coming extremely close to hitting her.

"LOOK OUT!"

I leapt in the way of the speeding car. I shoved her as hard as I could so she wouldn't be hit. It worked.

"Kid?"

I heard a faint voice in the distance.

"Kid? You alright? Get the nurse!"

"N- No…I'm fine!"

I was suddenly awake, staring up at the sky and the coach of the football team.

"What happened?"

The coach helped me sit up to see Iris who knelt down in front of me.

"You saved me."

I heard one of the football players snicker behind me.

"Too bad he couldn't save himself."

"Wha- What do you mean?"

The coach hanged his head…about to break the bad news to me.

"The car hit you instead…you just weren't fast enough kid….your just not fast enough."

I looked at my legs…the broken legs that would never work again.

**13 YEARS LATER…**

"Move in, move in!"

Lawton follows me through the doorway; I watch four of the bandits get shot down by him. We head up the staircase next, I use my knife to stab a bandit in his knee and then shove him over the ledge. I watch him fall down the staircase.

"Nice one."

Lawton and I went up the staircase and stopped at the door. Lawton and I went on each side of it.

"Whatever waits behind this door is going to be the target. Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are."

We both kicked open the door…ready to open fire.

"WAIT!"

I then realize why Lawton had called out to me. The people behind the door are a part of our squadron.

"What are they doing here? We could've shot you!"

I then hear a female speak from behind me.

"Not before I shot YOU."

The sharp pain lasts for ten seconds…I reach my hand up to my stomach to feel a warm liquid. Blood…

"Lawton…"

I fall to the floor and listen to Lawton scream to the woman.

"Samantha!"

"What Lawton?!"

"You didn't have to shoot him!"

"I did, I had no choice!"

I rolled over on my side, yet again staring up…this time at the ceiling. This time…I had time to recall on how I got here.

**10 YEARS AGO…**

I was sleeping one night…just like any other, when I smelt smoke. I snapped awake immediately, surrounded by flames. At this time…I could only use a wheelchair. I rolled out of my bed and attempted to reach it. Smoke filled my lungs causing me to cough.

"M- MOM!"

Just as I was about to grab my wheelchair, the ceiling caved in on it.

"DAD?!"

Suddenly, something crashed open my bedroom door and grabbed me. Something fast…something yellow and red. Before I knew it…I was fifty miles away from my house. That night…I was never so scared.

**4 HOURS LATER…**

A woman named Amanda Waller had found me. She gave me a blanket to wrap around myself and coaxed me from crying.

"Calm down son…what's your name?"

"Barry…Barry Allen."

"Okay Barry, I'm Amanda Waller, now we know eachother, right?"

I nodded my head, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I want my dad…my mom."

"I know honey...right now you have to put that aside and answer a few questions for me."

"Okay."

"Good…I'm investigating a possible paradox that occurred at your house. Do you know how you got so far away from home once it occurred?"

"N- No…"

"Do you remember anything?"

"A red flash…"

"I see…look sweetie, I'm going to help you get vengence and justice for your parents? Do you want that?"

At that age…I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

"Yes."

**3 YEARS LATER…**

I smelt the all familiar smoke…it filled my lungs once more. I coughed like I did the last time I was in a fire. Only this time, it hurt my chest. I attempted to sit up and see where I was. My stomach was bandaged and fire rose around me.

_Oh right…we were raiding the bandits._

I tried to stand…it wasn't happening. I was still paralyzed in the legs…without the aid of my leg enhancers I wasn't capable of standing. I saw them disabled and removed a few feet away.

_They must've removed them._

Waller had given the enhancers to me so I could be a trooper. I remember her conversation with me about them.

"These will help you walk again."

"I haven't walked for years…"

"It'll be easy…trust me."

After I had put them on and tried them she had warned me.

"These are the only enhancers ever made."

"By who?"

"Wayne Enterprises…a good friend of mine runs it."

"Why won't they make more?"

"Because…they're gone."

"Oh…like my parents?"

"Yes…actually, they have a son, just like you."

"Can I meet him?"

"Maybe…one day."

The heat of an explosion breaks me from my train of thought. I realize the enhancers are about to be burned…so am I. I crawl to them, barely within reach, just like my wheelchair…when the ceiling caves in. déjà vu hits me hard. This time…the enhancers weren't the only thing being crushed…and déjà vu wasn't the only thing hitting me. The ceiling caved in on me as well. I just wasn't fast enough to avoid it.


	2. Fast enough

I awoke on an operating table. I try to sit up but somebody pushes me back down. I can't see who…everything is pitch black…am I blind?

"It's okay Barry, calm down."

I recognize the voice, it's Amanda.

"Amanda? Where am I?"

"At a hospital, you're lucky to be alive."

"Why can't I see?"

"That's temporary."

I hold back anymore questions; I don't like to try her patience.

"I'm glad you're finally awake, I'll be back in an hour."

I listen to her heels clack on the floor; the door soon closes behind it. Now that she's gone I feel my face, it's covered with bandages. I attempt to remove them…slowly…the pain makes me recoil. Suddenly, a strong grip lands on my wrist and stops me from touching the bandaged area.

"Did you really think I was stupid enough to leave you in here alone?"

I can't help but laugh, Amanda tricked me. She's like the mother I never had.

"So you think this is funny?"

"Just remove the bandage."

"I was going to wait until it got darker out so the sun doesn't make your eyes sting."

"I can handle it."

She removes the bandages for me, she was right; the brightness of the sun stings my eyes. I cover them with my hand.

"I told you, you're just too stubborn to listen."

"It's one of my best qualities."

"It's one of your WORST qualities."

My eyes finally adjust enough for me to lower my hand. Amanda uses the remote to function my bed and help me sit up. I remove my blanket to see my legs.

"Still battered and broken…"

"And we don't have the enhancers anymore…"

After a moment of mourning my loss Amanda smiles.

"What's the smile for?"

"Because I have something better."

She lifts up a bag and places it in my lap. She helps me unzip it and passes me a quart sized plastic jug with some kindof red liquid in it.

"What's this?"

"I call it Lazarus."

"Okay…"

"Lazarus has the capability of repairing broken body parts and wounds."

"Wow…and how did you make this?"

"Through an ore we found, details aren't nessicary at this point."

"Ore?"

"From another planet called Krypton, Lazarus is a liquefied form of an ore that their planet is made of…Kryptonite."

"This is all very confusing to me…"

"You don't have clearance to know about it, I already told you enough."

Amanda has always had a weak spot for me. We were more than partners…we were friends.

"So what? I drink it and my legs are repaired?"

"Yes…only for a little while though."

"What do you mean?"

"You must drink from it every twelve hours…or else the ability of walking wares off."

I stare at the liquid for a while.

"What flavor is it?"

"You tell me."

"I'm not really thirsty right now…just tired."

Amanda nods her head, she always understands me.

"Let me know when you're ready to try it out."

She places a cell phone on my lap.

"My number is already punched in."

She then leaves me to ponder on my thoughts. I watch television for an hour and then have dinner. The nurses and doctors obey my every order. Once it is late enough and everyone is asleep…I pull out the bag.

"Let's see…its red…so it may be strawberry…or cherry…oh God…please taste good."

I chug the Lazarus. It tastes sour…

"I don't feel anythi-"

Suddenly, everything seems to move so fast, and then…it comes to a hault.

"Whoah…"

I look outside to see its morning already…did time speed up? I stand up easily and shrug it off before leaving my room. I reach the lounge while they are switching shifts I suppose…because nobody is there. I take the liberty of checking myself out and then jog to Dunkin Donuts. It must be really early in the morning because nobody is outside. Once I enter the Dunkin Donuts, I accidently bump into a woman who drops her coffee…which slowly floats sideways.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

I then realize she is moving in slow motion too…time has slowed down now. I grab the coffee and hand it to her before everything goes back to a normal speed.

"Whoah...you're fast!"

"Um…thanks."

"Well…thanks for catching my coffee…that would've sucked if it spilt."

"Yeah…it would've…"

She nods her head slowly…

_Oh crud…are things moving slowly again?_

Nope…she just thinks I'm an idiot.

"Well…it was nice of you. Bye…"

She exits the store and I can't help but to hand palm.

"I'm such an idiot."

I walk over to the cash register so the worker can take my order.

"Cool hoodie."

I realize I'm wearing my red hoodie from high school.

"Oh thanks, nobody ever complimented this old thing."

"Yeah, yeah, I was just trying to make you tip me, don't create a huge conversation out of it."

"Well now I'm not tipping you, you're rude."

"Well now I'm not serving you."

He points to a sign that reads:

"We have the choice to turn away any customers."

When I look back at him he is moving in slow motion. I glance back and forth to see if anybody is looking, when I see nobody is I make a coffee for myself and one for him…to bathe in. I lift it above him and exit out the door before things go back to regular speed and the coffee spills all over him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

He curses loud enough for me to hear me.

_I forgot to pay…_

Somehow…it's like my mind knows to slow things down again…so I go back and place seven dollars on the counter before leaving a second time. When I finish my coffee I pull my hood over my head and start walking back to the hospital. Along the way, police cars drive past me…

_I'm fast, I can help them…_

I then start running…alongside them…past them…I'm running faster than a cop car! I pass a newspaper stand that explodes with papers flying all over the place. I feel bad so I run back, gather them up, and put them back just as the cop cars catch up. I'm so fast! It's amazing! Eventually I reach the end of the block to find a hostage crisis. With the girl from the Dunkin Donuts! I need time to think this situation through…suddenly everything turns to slow motion. I laugh as I causally walk up to the man holding her hostage and take the gun away from him. I put it in the girl's hands…as I do I realize the ID card pinned to her shirt.

"Iris?"

Time then goes back to normal, the man and Iris are confused…the cops open fire. Things go back to slow motion again…I feel disappointed I couldn't mess with him more…oh well. I carry Iris out of the range so she doesn't get shot. I then point all the bullets downwards so they hit the floor.

"Hmmm…"

I try to think of anything else I can do. I stick his finger in his nose and pull his underwear over his head like a wedgie. I stand back to look at my masterpiece and laugh. I take a seat on the hood of a cop car and let things go back to their normal speed. The look on the police officers faces and the goon is priceless. Iris even giggles. Everyone then turns their attention to me…I wave goodbye before speeding away. When I get back to the hospital I find Amanda waiting in my room.

"You tested the Lazarus without me?!"


End file.
